This Donkey Is A Cow's Most Fierce Bodyguard

A donkey is teaching a small herd of cows how to strut their stuff on a halter.

The six-year-old donkey, appropriately called Donkey, is putting the three cows and a bull through their paces by leading them by a halter around an outdoor training area for 30 minutes a day.

Dumfries farmer Richard McCornick, who breeds Charolais at Barnbackle Farm near Lochfoot, said that Donkey proves to be a calming influence on any skittish animals and has them happily ambling along in just two sessions.

It might sound completely ludicrous, but it is the same lowly, hard working donkey, often cast out as the farm member we all forget, that can be the guardian to your livestock that you might be missing out on. If trained right, donkeys can be loyal and effective farmhands, naturally inclined to herd like dogs, but to also protect the livestock from predators.

They are not really protective of the animals, so much as they are protective of themselves and their territory. If raised with the animals they are supposed to protect, they will feed with them until a threat arises. No predator would like to get kicked in the mouth by a donkey.

They might not be able to handle all the predators like a dog, would, but they will also not keep you up all night by barking!

So next time you see a donkey in a pasture, remember - that is not Eeyore, moping around, but a stout farm security detail!